Category: Charity

Good Morning World and thanks for tuning in to the penultimate post day here on Planet Magnet. After this post there will be only one more and that won’t be for a couple of weeks as I tell the story of my walk along Britain’s oldest Road.

That means this is post number 499!

Quite an incredible feat but one that I suppose I am quite proud to have achieved.

I have always said that I would share my life with you guys for the next 499 posts, after which I would walk the Ridgeway for the Charity HENRY and make my 500th and final post about that very walk.

It is hard to consider the person I was when I started out on the journey. Some people don’t even recognise me as I have changed so much physically, others don’t recognise me because I have changed so much mentally.

Regardless of which is more significant I think we must all agree that since my surgery and subsequent life change, this person…

With My Mum!

Is no longer anything like this person….

If we consider way back when I started this little blog after advice to do so, I was incredibly unfit, unhappy, lonely, I was letting life pass me by and I was disengaged.

No more though.

What a difference 18mths and the help and support of medical professionals and all of you guys here on Word Press who come to read my words every day. Some of you read quietly and fly under the radar and some of you read and comment and encourage. Regardless of which camp you fall into, I appreciate you all so very very much and I thank you all very much from the bottom of my heart.

You guys have made the incredible challenge of 499 posts a possibility and I am so happy that I have completed what I set out to do I think all I need do now is wish myself Bon Voyage, Bon Chance and Bon Temps for the next week of walking. You will be able to follow my updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram…..

So until I write and publish the story of my walk, I shall leave you with these words from T.S Elliots Little Gidding (pointed TO me by Osyth from Half Baked in Paradise but here mixed up by ME) and hopefully they will sum up all I have been trying to say…

“To make an end is to make a beginning so always remember last years thoughts belong to last years language whereas next years words await another voice”

So ’till the last time,

Stay out of the fridge.

P.S. Don’t forget to follow this link and donate to my just giving page.

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Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet.

It’s weird to think that this is one of the last times I shall ever write these words….

What way do I go next?

What direction does life hold for me?

I would like to say that everything will be plain sailing but I doubt very much that it will because lets face it nothing ever is.

However.

Over the past 18months of blogging and self assessment, peeling the layers away one by one, I have learned that I can now cope when things don’t go my way .

I don’t have to eat my own body weight in chocolate buttons or drink my own blood levels in full fat coke or alcohol.

No.

I am able to cope with these things simply because I have been given a tool that allows me to eat less and I have been given a second chance at living an ordinary life where I eat vegetables, prepare EVERY meal from scratch and no longer eat chocolate and sweets or drink alcohol and soda pop in anyway near the amounts that I used to.

Life is really good and that is because I have taken it back.

Everything that I have done, you can do to.

Don’t forget I was a lost and lonely mid forties single man with no prospects ahead of him apart from ending up with Diabetes, Heart Conditions, High Blood Pressure and possibly ending up in a wheelchair. I had nothing to live for apart from existing. I had nothing to hope for, apart from one day I might get that miracle cure for being fat.

And do you know what?

I found that!

Yes! That cure does exist.

That cure is real.

But not in the shape of a pill.

No.

It exists in the shape of commitment, desire, hard work and looking at the long game.

It exists in YOU!

So as I have said so many time before, if I can do it then you can do it too….!

So where do I go to now?

Well I think that after the walk, I take some time to myself to write the final instalment of the blog then I take some more time to get some more inspiration and direction. Take some time for me and getting MY world in order.

Yes, I think that is the direction I shall take.

I have such a lot to look forward to so wish me luck as I wave you goodbye….

‘Till tomorrow,

Stay out of the fridge.

P.S Don’t forget to follow this link and donate to my just giving page…..

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Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet!

Today we are once again nearing the end of the week and so as we start to wind down for the Bank Holiday (here in the UK at least…) I have decided it is the right time to be telling you guys where I will be on each day of my walk and how to join me should you wish and I sincerely do hop you do wish to join me because I would love as many people along for the ride as possible so please please please do try your best to join me on at least one or two of the days….. 🙂

Okay!

The Itinerary has landed.

This coming June the 12th I shall be starting to walk the Ridgeway over the following week. If you would like to join me at ANY point of this walk then please just get in touch but for now I have a list of where I will be walking each day.

Sunday June 12th – Walk starts at Ivinghoe Beacon near Tring.

This day I will be walking to Wendover.

This is an 11 mile walk and so is possibly the best day for most people to come and enjoy the expected good weather and not feel like they are having to walk too far.

I shall be leaving Ivinghoe Beacon at approximately 9:30 to 10am and expect to arrive in Wendover at approximately 14.30 to 15.00.

I recommend that anyone coming arranges lifts with friends and you maybe attempt to leave one car at Wendover and another at Ivinghoe so you can get back once the walk is finished….. 😉

Please bring your own water and food for the walk as I will be unable to provide these two very important elements.

Alternatively please simply come to wave me off and say Good Bye, Bon Voyage and Farewell!!

Monday June 13th – Wendover to Watlington. This is 17.5 mile day and I expect to be leaving Wendover at 9am and arriving in Watlington at approximately 17:00

Tuesday June 14th – Watlington to Goring and Streatley. This is a 15 mile day. Again I shall be leaving at approximately 9am and expecting to arrive at Goring and Streatley by about 16:00

Wednesday June 15th – Goring and Streatley to Sparsholt Firs. This is a 17.5 mile day and I expect to be leaving Goring and Streatley again at approximately 9am and arriving in Sparsholt at around 17:00 once again.

Thursday June 16th – Sparsholt Firs to Ogbourne St George. This is a 15.5 mile day. Again I hope to start at around 9am and expect to finish at around 16:00 in Ogbourne St George.

Friday June 17th – Ogbourne St George to Overton Hill. This is a very short day of 9miles and to be honest I had planned on walking this section with Archie the Dog and no one else, but if you feel you would like to help me cross the finish line instead of see me over the finish line then you are more than welcome to join me. I expect again to be leaving at about 9am and hope to be crossing the finish line at about 13.30pm.

For exact locations of the starting and stopping points please read on.

Start – Ivinghoe Beacon

The meeting point will be Ivinghoe Beacon National Trust Car Park HP4 1NF (nearest postcode)

The end point will be be Wendover itself as the Ridgeway actually cuts through the town.

Day Two – Wendover

There is a car par local to this and there are plenty of sign posts on how to get to the Ridgeway from the town so you cannot go wrong….

The end point will be Watlington. Again there will be signs up to the Ridgeway from the the centre of the town.

Day Three – Watlington

Again park in Watlington and make your way up to the Ridgeway. Again plenty of signposts so very little chance of going wrong!

The end point will be Goring and Streatley as you will start to follow the River Thames (strangely enough, another walk known as the Thames Path is on the other side of the river!) We plan to end this day at The Swan in Streatley just before the bridge into Goring.

Day Four – Streatley.

Again we shall meet at the Swan Inn in Streatley and head off toward Sparsholt Firs. Sparsholt Firs can be found on the B4001 out of Wantage.

Day Five – Sparsholt Firs

Meeting and parking at Sparsholt Firs is quite easy to do so with plenty of room. We finish this day at Foxhill which is easily found off of Callas Hill out of Wanborough. There is a car park there so plenty of parking and easy to collect – Grid Ref SU 233 815

Day Six – Foxhill

Meeting at Foxhill for the final day shall bring the walk to a close at Overton Hill. This is the end of the Ridgeway and can be found just off of the A4 near West Kennet.

This brings the walk to a close and I hope as many of you can join me as is humanly possible. Please do come and walk, whether it be an hour, a day or more, I would love to have you with me 🙂

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Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet. I hope today finds you as happy and relaxed as me and maybe even wearing your glasses as I must now do in order to see nearly everything I look at.

Oh I am falling apart.

Well, probably not….

Today I have another video to share with you so sit back and relax and see if you can understand what I am talking about….

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Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet.

Today sees the British weather back to it’s usual tricks with the sun a long forgotten memory as it has rained continually for the past three days. Still, nothing that we aren’t used to and if it does all of it’s raining this month then at least there will be no more raining next month when I am walking……

Yes that’s right.

You heard me correctly.

Although I am STILL waiting my appointments with both the Blood people and my G.P, I have decided that there will be a walk starting on June the 17th from Ivinghoe Beacon and I would love as many people to come along as can possibly manage it. It would be great if you walked a little way with me but I will understand fully if you simply want to wave me off whilst muttering “good riddance and glad to see the back of him” under your breath… 😉

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Good Morning world and thanks for Tuning in to the start of another weekend here on Planet Magnet!

Today I have a short post for you. I simply want to show you something I received in the mail the other morning. Now I know it is dated back in March, but believe me when I say I have not long received it. So much for Royal Mail keeping up with technology…..

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Good Morning world and thanks for Tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet.

It’s Friday!!

Whoop Whoop!!!

Actually, I should calm down a little. All today holds for me is more of this charity stuff so maybe I should simply get on with this post for you guys and tell you I found this the other day and realised that I had not shared it.

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Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet. Not only just another day BUT the start of yet another week so I hope it finds you well rested after a nice weekend and looking forward to the challenges the week ahead will bring.

Myself I am pleased to have met my target and completed my seven day video blogging challenge which I suppose now apart from most definitely making me a Vlogger means I have to start writing and being creative once again so without further ado I give you a story I read in the U.K’s Guardian Newspaper.

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Today we have a two blog post day so if you have missed my video challenge blog then best you get looking for it and leave a comment after you have liked it….. 😉

I have decided that I cannot wait until Monday to share these two pieces with you so I simply want to get them out there as soon as possible so I have decided to break with my rule of one post per day and give you a second one to consider….

We have had the poster made up in A3 and the letter is on A4 size.

Let me know what you think of them and also where you think we might put them up.
I am thinking Slimming World and Weight Watchers meetings, Gyms, The Churchill Hospital (where I had my operation) The local Doctors Surgeries, Waitrose, The CoOp and Sainsbury’s supermarkets, Play Groups, Mother and Baby Groups, Village Halls, Business Park notice Boards, Post Office, Lamposts…. The list could go on. I am also going to hopefully have people take these into their places of work and put them up on their notice boards.